stp vegas
STP Live – 9/27/13 on Fremont Street Experience

In my efforts to catching up with blog posts from the last 12 weeks, I found that I didn’t post about seeing Stone Temple Pilots live back at the end of September.

I wrote about the new lineup of STP back in May, with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park joining up with the three other original members and creating new music together. I’m a long time fan of STP since they first came on the scene in 1992. So any changes require some time to get used to.

So I had the chance to be in Vegas the same night as their concert on Fremont Street Experience. And for under $30 a ticket, I drug my wife and we decided to see what the new STP would look and sound like.

stp vegas live
A view from the seats we had at STP on Fremont Street Experience

The verdict? I really liked the show. They played just about every hit with Chester on lead vocals. And it wasn’t filled with his trademark Linkin Park scream vocals. He performed as if he were standing in place for Scott. Similar vocals. Similar stage presence. No straining. Just strong and enjoyable. New songs like “Out of Time” and “Black Heart” had Chester adding his touch to them, which I appreciated. He commanded the vocals so well. And even obscure songs like “Church On Tuesday” and “Piece of Pie” were nice surprises, with Chester mixing well with Dean, Robert and Eric.

Very glad I went to this show.

Set List

  1. Down
  2. Big Bang Baby
  3. Vasoline
  4. Dead & Bloated
  5. Out of Time
  6. Meatplow
  7. Silvergun Superman
  8. Church On Tuesday
  9. Big Empty
  10. Black Heart
  11. Interstate Love Song
  12. Pop’s Love Suicide
  13. Hollywood Bitch
  14. Sex Type Thing
  15. Sex & Violence
  16. Encore:

  17. Wicked Garden
  18. Piece of Pie
  19. Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart

New EP “High Rise”

Along with some live performances, the new lineup has created an EP of 5 new songs. The two previous new ones that I heard live plus three others. For as adventurous as creating new music is when you have a replacement lead singer, sometimes it does work. And I appreciate just 5 songs instead of an entire album for now. Give them a spin and then see what happens.

Track List

  1. “Out of Time”
  2. “Black Heart”
  3. “Same on the Inside”
  4. “Cry Cry”
  5. “Tomorrow”

Music Without Scott

stp 2008
STP in concert June 11, 2008

So can this work long term? Chester has said his first commitment is to Linkin Park. And Scott has made a few revolving door returns as the front man for STP. But this time, it might just be permanent. Well, I’ve seen STP enough times in the past as memories if Scott never returns.

Stone Temple Pilots have new life breathed in them and they appear to interact well with Chester. So even for this long time fan of Scott Weiland, I might have to admit that bands can move forward with new lead singers. “Don’t Stop Believin'”